had james earl ray here, he came in about 1960 for armed robbery. there was nothing significant about him that made him stand out, from what i've been told. he came here before i was here, but, of course, he came infamous in 1968 when he killed dr. martin luther king. he escaped out of this prison april 1967, and he actually got out through the prison's sally port, that's the point of ingress and egress and got in a giant bread box somewhere between here and across the river, he got off that truck, and at the time, the reward for james earl ray was $50, and that was the standard amount for any inmate. well, after he killed dr. king, of course, the u.s. government had a real high price on his head, and we still had an active warrant for james earl ray right up until the time he died down in tennessee. sonny listen did time here, he was in a-hall, cell 33, came here in 1950 for armed robbery, i believe 13 or 15 children, he was illiterate. the staff here helped him with his boxing career and helped him obtain parole because they saw this man had tremendous talent. this institution is a
